Out of Sight, Out of Mind.... Always Remember, You Must Remind!
You wouldn’t believe how many agents I know that, unless someone really did some digging, they would have never know this person was in real estate. Blows my mind every time. It seems obvious, but I think a lot of agents just don’t think to take the time to shout it from every rooftop they can find. If you want people to use your services, you first have to let them know what you are selling! At a minimum:
Social Media
When someone goes on your Facebook/Instagram, they should INSTANTLY be able to identify you as a REALTOR. More often than not, when I go on an agent’s personal page, the fact that they sell real estate is NO WHERE. Make sure your profile shows that you are an agent and which brokerage you are affiliated with. Bonus points if you make sure your personal page is linked to your business one so it says “Manages xxxx” on Facebook. Also, make sure every third or fourth post you make is about your job. You don’t need to overwhelm, but no one should have to scroll more than 1 or 2 times without seeing something real estate related.
You, too, can have a Google page! All you need is a gmail account and, as we all know, it’s free! Get your Google page looking professional and include lots of ways to contact you and photos. You can also post here, which will increase your Google ranking!
When’s the last time you updated this bad boy? Does your profile still say you are Store Manager at Dominoes? Yeah. You need to fix that. Go on LinkedIn at least once a week, add a bunch of connections, and post an article or something so people know you are still alive and are involved in the market.
Name tags or logo apparel
There’s a lot of debate on how cheesy this is, but the truth is you can and should be your own billboard. How many times have you stood in line at Kroger’s next to someone needing to sell a house and not even known it? It’s a great conversation starter, too, especially at the soccer meet / Boy Scout event / etc. People, for whatever reason (and I’m looking at you, HGTV), are absolutely FASCINATED by real estate. Wear your badge with honor and I’ll bet someone this week will strike up a convo with you about the market, their friend’s FSBO, or how much they would love to do real estate part time (just keep your thoughts to yourself, here).
Contact your sphere
Now, really. Even if you have purple hair and a nose ring, you are still forgettable. If no one has told you, I’m breaking the bad news now. People will and do forget that you are a licensed real estate agent. So what do you do so your uncle/friend from high school/sorority sister remembers to call you when they need to complete a real estate transaction? REMIND THEM! I don’t care how you do it - quarterly newsletters, postcards, letters, thank you notes, etc. Just make sure you are keeping your database up to date and touching it at least 4 times a year. Bonus points if you add to it daily (which you should!).
Yellow Pages and other directories
Let’s take a trip down memory lane together. Remember back in the day when you needed to find someone to do something for you? Where did you go? The yellow pages, of course! We now have a bazillion yellow-pages-type directories that you can list yourself in. Get yourself listed in the Yelp directory, plus with the local Chamber of Commerce, Angie’s List, NextDoor, etc. When you can, link them back to your website for extra SEO points.
Once you get yourself up to date with all of these, just remember to go back occasionally and make sure things are correct and current. The initial work on it may take some time, but once you do, keeping everything going is pretty simple. Get yourself a system to keep yourself in front of people’s faces. You’ll be glad you did!